Transformers Comic-Magazin

Soundwave was mostly surprised by the gigantic Emirate Xaaron statue.

Whilst Condor-Verlag had published the first four issues of The Transformers in Die Transformer in 1986, it was with the Transformers Comic-Magazin that they saw more success.

Published in Germany in A4 magazine format from 1989-1992 to coincide with the airing by RTL of thecartoon, the comic was a combination of Marvel US/UK reprints, original text stories, and puzzles.

The Transformers Comic-Magazin team, looking for more horrors to inflict upon the world.

Covers

Perhaps the most striking thing about Transformers Comic-Magazin was the covers. Mostly redrawn from traced images, they usually bared little or no relation to the contents, and contained bizarrely coloured renditions of various characters. For some reason, images of Optimus Prime were usually redrawn from Soundwave.

Reprints

Top: German version without the magenta. Bottom: US original

Although issue 1 picked up where the limited series had left off, issue 2 suddenly skipped the rest of the first long story arc and jumped straight to issue 14 of the US title. Of note, these US stories were recolored minus the magenta plates of the originals. The next four issues continued reprinting the subsequent US issues in chronological order... but with issue 7, the title suddenly switched to a reprint of UK stories, starting with issues 96 and 97. For a while, Condor continued reprinting UK stories in chronological order (but left out the extra-long story from issue 100, which contains a lengthy flashback that refers to Target: 2006, which hadn't been published by Condor). The Burning Sky!/Hunters/Fire on High! arc omitted both the beginning (Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!) and the finale, Vicious Circle!, because Condor never published any material from UK annuals. Condor continued to publish UK material in chronological order (albeit skipping some stories) until the Transformers Comic-Magazin was cancelled in 1992 with issue 24.

Text Stories

Starting with issue 2, the comic began to publish original text stories to publicise the latest toy releases, usually written by the comic's translator, Robert Mann. These stories were charmingly inept at best, but feature a lot of obscure characters, such as Crossblades and Rescue Force.

Puzzles

Characters were colored in a sober and sensible manner.

Issues often contained various puzzles and cut-out models to build. Whilst some were generic pages featuring cartoon children, others featured wild and wonderful new Transformers in a dazzling array of colors.